Volkswagen California review

So far we’ve only driven the diesel-powered California in its most fully-loaded Ocean form. VW quotes a weight of 2,386kg including driver, but once you’ve loaded up with kit, filled the water tank and packed the kids, the Cali will be well over 2.5 tonnes.

Still, the 2.0-litre TDI pulls well with its 266lb ft of torque, even if 148bhp might not seem like much. There’s no official 0-62mph time )because who’s drag racing their campervan?), but expect something well into double figures. In-gear acceleration is perfectly acceptable though, so getting up to speed on a slip road is never an issue.

If you need a bit more urgency you can flick the standard seven-speed DSG into sport mode. That gives you lower gears earlier and changes up at higher revs. It works quite well in the California and doesn’t make things as shouty as you might expect. In fact, in its standard mode the DSG is perhaps a little too focussed on efficiency and makes progress a little sluggish. Changes are perfectly smooth though, and there are always the little paddles behind the steering wheel if you fancy some manual changes on steep climbs or the like.

Has it benefited from being a Multivan underneath?

It’s much more car-like than the previous California. The diesel engine sounds more refined from inside the cabin and all the controls are very familiar if you’ve ever sat in a Golf. Obviously, the goal was never to create something sporty, so all the controls are light to operate. There’s not a huge amount of feel to the steering, but you can place it with plenty of accuracy and it handles corners remarkably well for something with a full kitchen on board.

You can be confident with the brake pedal too. Well, at least you can in the diesel. We found that the handover between regen and actual pad was a little tricky when we tested the plug-in hybrid Multivan, so expect the same when the PHEV California arrives. Oh, and of course the MQB platform means that there’s the full suite of active safety systems… most of which you’ll switch off as soon as you start the engine.

Surely wind noise is a massive issue?

At motorway speeds it’s actually remarkably refined. There isn’t too much wind noise off the bluff front, the mirrors are fairly shapely and even the awning that sticks out the side manages to avoid making a racket. It’s mightily impressive for something so loaded with kit and gives you the confidence to keep up with other road users. It’s also fairly efficient in diesel form. We saw around 39mpg on mixed routes with more motorway driving and 35mpg on country roads.

How does it ride?

It’s generally very comfortable. Our test car was fitted with 18-inch wheels and Volkswagen’s 15-stage adaptive damping as also found on the Golf GTI, so we were able to set the slider to full comfort and waft around soaking up bumps. Of course, bigger potholes do crash through the cabin a little (particularly when you haven’t packed the pots and pans away properly) and there’s a bit of flex to the chassis now that most of the roof has been chopped out, but your passengers won’t complain about having to do long distances.

One thing we did notice in our pre-production test car though: the new sliding hatch to access the pop-top roof slid back once or twice unexpectedly on rough terrain, which then sent bits of folded roof tent down into the cabin while we were on the move. Not ideal.